Foodfight! (Lost Early Version of Animated Film; 2002)

Foodfight!(Early Version) is a lost CGI-animated movie from Threshold Animation Studios, having been originally slated for a Christmas 2003 release. However, the hard drives that contained the film were stolen, and production was delayed for a decade.

History

Conception for the lost early version of the film first materialised in 1999, from Lawrence Kasanoff and Joshua Wexler, at the time, an employee of Threshold. A $25 million grant was issued on behalf of a Korean capital firm, at the request of Wexler, and an additional $50 million was expected through various product placement and pre-sale market hype of the film. With cash in hand, development of the film began in 2002. CGI and voiceover work took place at Threshold's Santa Monica, California studio.

However, the film reached an impasse in development in December 2002. Hard drives containing the film's progress were reportedly stolen, leading to the entire film having to be made over again from scratch. As the majority of the budget was already spent on licensing products, mascots, actors, and production, it was given a new "live-action" take and was produced on a very restricted budget, using the insufficient software. On its heavily delayed release in 2012, the movie received negative reviews, with most criticism directed towards the abysmal CGI animation. Critics described the movie as "stiff, jerky, lifeless and unfinished", in addition to noting other problems, like uncomfortable sexualization and a terrible script.

The pre-theft version was a hopeful production that was expected to showcase the uniqueness and ability of Threshold Animation Studios. Critics and investors were initially so confident in the film that some of them actually called Threshold "the next-generation PIXAR."

Plot

Foodfight! is stylised as "Toy Story in a supermarket," as it was about a supermarket that came to life when the store closed. The film includes many legendary food mascots, representing the large portion of the budget that came from product placement. The film stars actors and actresses such as Charlie Sheen and Hillary Duff, playing original mascots Dex Dogtective and Sunshine Goodness, respectively.

Discoveries

It's unknown whether Foodfight! could have somewhat lived up to the hype surrounding its original production. The early progress on the film that may have been salvageable currently resides on the hard drives that, to this day, are still lost. It's estimated that there may be around 60% of the completed film in existence. The few things that are available from the early version of Foodfight! include an early trailer with significantly better animation, displaying the various merchandise made to promote the film.

Larry Kasanoff, the film's director, with concept art and stills of the original version of the film.

Daniel Browning Smith's stunts reel containing his clip of the early version of the film (2:01 - 2:13).

Notes about the original trailer

- Most of the scenes and even shots are identical to the final film, which goes along to show just how much may have been similar. Some of the completely original parts not seen anywhere in the final film include:

- (0:20 - 0:23) Chester Cheetah scene, as he didn't make it into the final movie. This could be from the opening where the market is coming to life considering its placement in the trailer.

- (0:26 - 0:28) Dex fighting the red ninja mascot. In the final film, he is seen confronting the Fat Cat Burglar and Hairless Hamsters, but there wasn't any physical combat involved, and it took place on top of an air balloon.

- (0:55 - 0:57) Lord Flushington gets trampled by a manhole cover. This also happens in the final film but in daytime and with Mr Clean in the background instead.

- (1:08 - 1:09) Dex is seen dancing with an unknown redhead. This could be the scene from the final movie where he dances with Lady X.

- (1:36 - 1:41) Second Chester Cheetah scene.

- Around the 0:09 mark, an image of Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers minus the "Donkey Kong" part of the logo can be seen in the background. It is unknown why, but it may have been either a placeholder or other type of product in the store. It's also unusual in that Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers wasn't even released to the public.

- (1:09 - 1:11)(1:22 - 1:26) These are actually shots from the final movie, implying the trailer may have been made after the theft if not for the mismatched audio still being overheard on these parts, meaning the new footage may have been placed over certain parts of the trailer. In the first one, the voice of someone that could be Twinkleton can be heard. In the second, a laugh from the dictator can be heard as well as marching, a plane soar and a scream.

Early version assets seen in the final film

List of known mascots and products who are/were going to be in the film, and possibly the early version

Apparently, the film was originally going to have animated versions of 80 name-brand products and their associated characters.

I'd say this is because the animators had not much of a clue as to what the film was going to be like. Also, there are a handful of post-mortems you might be able to find. Then again, I doubt any of animators would want to go in depth with their experience on this film.

One thing I don't get is the lack of hindsight. I mean, not all of the advertising mascots (if they were expecting brand name recognition) are used outside of North America, so international audiences wouldn't recognise them and just think of it as some generic animated adventure rather than getting all the humour and in-jokes relating to old advertising campaigns. Since the vast majority of movies gain their budget back through INTERNATIONAL screenings rather than just domestic, I can't imagine it was the cleverest of ideas that's ever gone through Mr. Kasanoff's head...

But then, the director originally worked on some crappy Mortal Kombat adaptations before this... you know, Mortal Kombat WITHOUT what made it cool, i.e. the awesome violence! If he can't even do that right...